


The Fall of Umbrella

by FallenHero_Achilles



Series: The Raccoon City Saga [2]
Category: Biohazard | Resident Evil (Gameverse)
Genre: Action/Horror, Biological Weapons, Blood and Gore, Blood and Injury, Body Horror, Cigarettes, Destruction, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Graphic Description of Corpses, Gun Kink, Guns, Hurt/Comfort, Lots of guns, Nuclear Solution, Raccoon City, Resident Evil movie references, Smoking, Survival Horror, Umbrella Corporation ruining everyone's day, Violence, Zombie Apocalypse, Zombies
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-06
Updated: 2020-12-26
Packaged: 2021-03-03 06:06:36
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,581
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24030094
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FallenHero_Achilles/pseuds/FallenHero_Achilles
Summary: Following the tragedy of the Arklay Lab incident,  a small group of survivors enters the fight of their lives when the T-Virus escapes from an Umbrella facility and completely transforms Raccoon City into a sprawling necropolis. Isaac Holiday meets the mysterious Lydia Richards, who wants to discover the truth behind the outbreak. Rebecca Chambers fights for her life as she tries to provide assistance within the war zone that has become the Raccoon City Police Station. All while Jill finds herself being hunted by the powerful and horrifying weapon, Nemesis. Meanwhile, rookie cop Leon Kennedy teams up with college student Claire Redfield as each of them enters the city for reasons of their own, unsure of what was really unfolding. Meanwhile, Umbrella sends out another weapon to compliment Nemesis, a surefire way of eliminating not only all members of S.T.A.R.S, but any chosen individuals who possess evidence to incriminate the powerful corporation.
Relationships: Leon S. Kennedy/Claire Redfield, Rebecca Chambers/Original Male Character
Series: The Raccoon City Saga [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1715929
Kudos: 5





	1. Ground Zero

Dazed and confused was the best way to describe the experience of waking up to find your hotel room shaking as if a magnitude seven earthquake had struck. 

Her eyes shot open and she immediately rolled off of her bed, dropping low onto her belly as she held her hands over her head as paintings fell off the walls and the screen of the television in the front of the room suddenly went to static. 

When the shaking stopped, Lydia slowly rose to her feet before fishing for the remote that had fallen onto the floor, snatching it up and flicking to the nightly news as she looked for a channel that hadn’t turned to snow.

“—Outbreak of an unknown virus is rapidly sweeping across the city as pandemonium quickly spreads throughout the streets. SWAT forces are spread across the city as they try to restore order as riots have turned the streets into a warzone. We’ve never seen anything like it—”

Lydia checked her PDA just as the building shook again, the curtains leaving her room in darkness briefly lighting up a bright orange as an explosion could be heard outside. On the brightly lit screen were messages from Ben.

‘Virus somehow escaped and has infected a large portion of the RC population. Infected are incredibly violent, so watch your back! I’m going after Irons and the Birkin family for answers, so odds are that you’ll find me at the police station!’

“Shit.”

Lydia changed out of her sweatpants and into a pair of jeans and a simple synthetic t-shirt. She reached under her bed where she’d left the tactical weapons case, unlatching it to reveal a tactical belt with numerous pockets for holding ammunition and other small tools, her custom ported M1911 with a few magazines alongside it, and a Ruger Redhawk .357 magnum as a secondary handgun in case things got too hairy. She strapped on her waist and chest holster, loaded her guns, and stashed her ammunition into the pockets on her belt. The last piece of gear within the case was the switchblade she took everywhere with her. She’d had the knife for years, and she worked hard to keep the knife in pristine condition. 

After putting on her combat boots and lacing them as tightly as she could, she parted the curtains of her hotel room and dared to take a look at the streets below to get a sense of how bad things were.

And holy shit were things bad.

People ran down one end of the street, away from…she didn’t know. Cars sat abandoned or burning in the streets as screams and cracks of gunfire erupted in the distance. As she stood frozen in front of the window, she noticed that a small red dot had appeared on the glass next to her. She placed a single finger in front of it, noticing that the dot was connecting to a bright red laser that was being aimed at her from the street below.

“Holy fuck!” Lydia turned and jumped just as a heavy stream of high caliber bullets punched through the drywall, tearing through the building like wet paper. Lydia could hear the whirring of the Gatling gun from across the street as she remained low on the ground. When the gunfire ceased, Lydia bolted from the room, kicking the door open so hard that the lock shattered. Another explosion rocked the building with enough force to knock the power out. 

‘No power, no elevator. Gotta find the stairwell and get to the main lobby.’

She ran up one end of the hall just the wall at its end to explode, a massive dark figure standing among there thick dust cloud that was now spreading across the hall. The huge humanoid figure stomped toward her, Lydia turning on her heels as she ran for the stairwell at the opposite end of the hall.

She managed to slam the door to the stairwell open just as she heard the whirring of the Gatling gun once again, the woman leaping down each set of stairs and nearly falling over as she struggled to make her way down from the sixth floor down to the first. 

And then the wall in front of her exploded, her stalker casually marching through the cinderblock wall as debris rained down upon him. Lydia quickly drew her .45 and squeezed off three rounds into its face before he grabbed her by the neck and tossed her over his shoulder, sending her crashing into a wall and falling flat onto her face against the hardwood floor.

Black spots danced before her eyes as she rose to her feet and continued to run, spotting a fire escape railing outside the window she was rapidly approaching.  
‘Lydia, this is seriously gonna hurt.’

What no one tells you about jumping through normal glass windows is that it’s not what it’s depicted as in the movie. In the movies, the hero crashes through the window and looks like a badass. In real life, you feel the full force of your body slamming into the glass as it shatters on impact, shards slicing into your body as you pass through and as gravity pulls the shards down toward the ground—and toward your body—for added damage. Lydia barely managed to land on her feet when she hit the fire escape. In fact, she slammed her gut straight into the iron railing, knocking the wind out of her and nearly making her vomit as all of the oxygen in her body left her. 

She gasped, oxygen refilling her lungs as she hurled herself down the stairs of the fire escape. She could hear the thing chasing her smashing its way through the hotel, and at that moment Lydia realized that she was on the second floor of the hotel. Casting her gaze over the railing, she saw a black SUV parked directly underneath her.

“Fuck it.”

She leaped off of the railing fell onto the hood of the SUV, putting a nasty dent in it as the alarm began to wail. Lydia could only lie there on top of the car, groaning as a nasty cut on her forehead covered the left side of her face in blood. She was covered in dust and debris and lacerations and bruises covered her much of her arms and hands.

“What the fuck was that thing?”

She didn’t have time to think as a hand suddenly grabbed her foot, a pair of teeth clamping down upon her boot as her eyes widened in shock and her hands immediately went for her gun.

A teenage girl no older than fifteen was munching away at her boot to no avail, trying to get at the flesh contained within. Her throat had been torn away, revealing the inner workings of her neck as blood covered her entire front. Her eyes were a lifeless milky white that complimented her filthy pallid skin with the capillaries across her body bulging and filled with dark red fluid. 

The blast of her .45 blew off the top of her skull and sent her crumpling lifelessly to the ground. The city block she found herself on was filled with errant infected shuffling toward her position, no doubt drew by the commotion caused by her attacker. 

“Police station, huh Ben? I’ll take your word for it. After all, I’ve got some words for Mr. Brian Irons as well.”

She slid off the car and brushed the dust off her arms, wincing as she pulled out a glass shard that had embedded itself in her bicep. She shot two more of the infected closest to her before breaking into a jog, dodging the extending hands of infected as they reached for her. Though it was still early in the night, she could see the rising moon in the distance as large plumes of black smoke rose into the night sky, the bright golden light of a city on fire making them even more prominent. 

An infected crawled out from underneath a car and tripped her, grabbing onto her leg and attempting to bite into her thigh before she put a bullet through its head.

“These fuckers are everywhere! How the hell did this thing spread so fast?” She said through gritted teeth as she slammed the blade of her knife through the forehead of an infected that came at her from behind.

“Gotta get off the streets, stick to the alleys. If I’m out in the open I might not be so lucky.”

She ran down one alley and was surprised to see that someone had taken the time to build a fence to seal it off from the street. She slammed it shut behind her just as a crowd of infected approached and began rattling it in a futile attempt to get at her. Still, the alleys were a mess as well. Right at her feet was a corpse missing its upper torso, its innards splayed on the ground in a pool of blood. She merely stepped over the body and continued on her way, walking across a series of fire escapes that connected different apartment buildings and other small businesses. The air was heavy with the odors of burning flesh, metal, and decay. She could hear screams both in the distance and nearby as the city fell to chaos. 

Lydia walked down a small decline in the stairwell and found herself back on the street level, a chainlink fence separating her from the nearby parking lot of a church. A few infected stumbled about the lot, and some of them heard her hurried footfalls against the ground as she located and pushed open the gate to the lot, firing a round into the head of the one closest one.  
A truck came barreling down the street in front of her, crashing into a crowd of other vehicles before erupting into a massive fireball, sending flaming shrapnel flying in all directions. A huge crowd of infected suddenly began crawling out from the wreck, ignoring the flames that licked at their flesh.

“Shit!” She made a mad dash across the street, sliding over the hood of a car as she bounded toward another alley secured by a fence. She slammed it shut behind her just as she heard the telltale whirring of a Gatling gun. 

The path through the alley brought her to a large intersection where a large armored SWAT car was parked in the middle of the street. Four other police squad cars were parked around the armored car as heavily armed SWAT operators and officers fired their weapons into a large crowd of infected coming their way.

“Hold the line! We have to hold the line!” One of them was shouting above the ever-growing din of gunfire. Lydia took shelter behind a dumpster to avoid catching a stray bullet, only for an infected to crawl out from underneath and grab onto her ankle, causing her to lose her balance and fall onto the ground.

“Fuck off!” She said through gritted teeth, jamming her .45 into its eye socket and pulling the trigger, its arms going stiff at its brain was splattered across the bottom of the dumpster.

‘I gotta find someplace that’s actually secure. I just need to catch my breath for a bit.’

A dark blue police helicopter soared overhead, a voice amplified by a megaphone blaring from the aircraft’s cab as an officer broadcasted a message to whoever was still alive to listen.

“Citizens of Raccoon City! For those in this area, please head to the police station for safety. We can provide you with food, shelter, and medical services! For those unable to make it there, head to the southernmost section of the city. The Umbrella Corporation has set up a secure zone in which you’ll be screened for infection. After the screening, you will be allowed to safely evacuate!”

An evacuation zone? That sounded way too good to be true. Still, she could think more about that later. She crept her way through city streets, dodging infected utilizing back alleys to maintain her cover. She finally came upon a large brick building that she recognized as a warehouse. Creeping through an alley and picking the lock of the heavy-duty security door, she shut it behind her and locked it once again. 

The warehouse was oddly comforting, due to the warm overhead lights above and the thick walls that did an effective job at muffling the sounds of chaos coming from the outside world. She ejected a magazine from her pistol, stuffing it into one of her pockets before sliding in a fresh one.

The warehouse appeared to empty, the main floor comprised of tall shelves containing a number of cardboard boxes of varying sizes. A metal stairwell bolted into the ground led to the warehouse’s second level where Lydia could see an office area with its lights still on. Making her way there, she pushed open the door, keeping her gun raised as she entered.

Empty.

She dropped down into a comfortable desk chair that was nearby and heaved a huge sigh of relief.

She was safe, for now.


	2. Nemesis MK.II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Umbrella's newest monstrosity arises

“Okay, I’ll admit it. I’m highly impressed. I’m impressed that she’s still alive so far. She knows how to handle herself under immense stress and even managed to outrun our newest creation. Furthermore, the Nemesis project is running accordingly. Both of these women have managed to hold their own against the Nemesis types as well as the other infected as well. Still, we’ll continue to monitor the situation as things unfold. After all, the Mark II Nemesis has a reputation for being full of surprises.”

He sits with his legs crossed within a brightly lit office, surrounded on all sides by perfectly white walls within an office with walls covered in various degrees, photos, and expensive paintings. A man in a suit with short brown hair and hazel eyes sits in front of the desk, a rather visible metallic pin on his lapel depicting the Umbrella emblem. 

“The Nemesis Mark II is truly astounding. From what we’ve observed, it’s making full use of the implemented neural network. It can learn to use its environment to its benefit, and has nearly full control over its mutations, allowing it to manipulate its body type to make itself faster, stronger, more agile. At the moment it seems to particularly enjoy the use of automatic weapons. While the target its pursuing is still drawing breath, it should be locking onto her location in about…fifteen-seconds,” the man said as he checked the laptop sitting atop the desk.

“Oh my, it would seem that things truly are getting interesting…”

Lydia couldn’t help but scream when the wall behind her suddenly exploded, knocking her to the floor hard as the warehouse office filled with thick smoke, debris flying in all directions. She coughed violently as she rose to her feet, eyes going wide as she spotted her attacker towering over her, Gatling gun held in one massive hand as a visible tentacle emerged from another.

Not bothering to waste any ammunition on it, Lydia kicked open the door closest to her and made her way back to the ground floor of the warehouse as she searched for another exit door. Spotting one just as her attacker squeezed down the trigger of its weapon, she’d slammed her shoulder into the door sending it flying open into the face of an infected who had been standing in the wrong place at the wrong time, its nose bursting open and spraying blood upon the door on impact. Lydia leaped over the toppled infected man and continued her hectic journey toward the Raccoon City Police Station. 

She weaved around wrecked vehicles and infected that got too close, occasionally squeezing off a round into the head of one that got a little too ‘hands-on.’ At one point she stumbled into another busy intersection, several SWAT officers currently engaging in a firefight with a massive crowd of infected that had managed to topple an entire city police barricade and were marching down one city block in the most macabre display that Lydia had ever seen.

One of the officers spotted her and raised a hand, shouting at her.

“You! Make your way to the station! You’ll be safe there!” He shouted over the sporadic bursts of gunfire that seemingly came from every possible direction. A SWAT officer next to him tossed a flashing grenade into the crowd of oncoming infected, the explosion and burst of light actually staggering them and slowing their pursuit, allowing another barrage of gunfire to take down at least a dozen of them. Still, there were so many. Just when one infected was put down another one would step over its corpse in the same endless pursuit of feasting on flesh.

Then Lydia heard a monstrous roar come from behind her, and every hair on the back of her neck stood on its end as her blood turned to ice and her legs suddenly became jelly. Her attacker was only a few feet away from her. How it moved so fast, she didn’t know, but upon hearing the whirring of the Gatling gun, Lydia threw herself behind the wreckage of a car just as the first massacre Lydia had seen in a long time began. 

Heavy caliber rounds punched through the body armor of the SWAT operators as they released shouts and screams of utter surprise, those that were not in the direct line of fire training their guns onto their new attacker and opening fire with everything they had. Automatic weapons made contact with the inhuman attacker but had little to no effect, the monster no even responding to the bullets spacing into its body as it swept the gun in a wide arc, tearing apart cars, killing infected, punching massive holes into the bodies of the officers as they were send crashing to the ground, limbs occasional getting severed from bodies in clouds of blood-mist as the rounds tore them apart. Lydia held her hands to her ears as all of the sounds surrounding her became far too much for her to handle. The wails of agony coming from men and women in their death throes, the sounds of bullets smacking into flesh, the inhuman roars of the monster as it gleefully gunned down an entire squad of officers trying to protect the city they’d called home for years.

Eventually, Lydia heard the telltale click of an empty automatic weapon, turning her head back to the monster from her hiding spot behind the car as she watched the thing in the shadows drop its gun onto the ground, releasing a seemingly satisfied grunt as it stomped towards the scene, the flames of burning vehicles illuminating its features. 

Lydia had never seen something as horrific as the thing that was standing right in front of her. It was humanoid, an extremely tall figure that towered over her and boasted an incredibly muscular physique. It wore some sort of enlarged combat uniform that perfectly highlighted its powerful and stocky physique, it’s skin a pallid color with a face born of nightmares. It had the head of what appeared to be a human male, with a rotted jaw exposing rows of razor-sharp teeth, a forked tongue occasionally slithering out, dripping saliva onto the ground as it seemed to sniff the air, detecting the scent of blood. Every footstep was heavy upon the ground, Lydia looking down to see that the thing even wore a pair of heavily armored boots that appeared to be reinforced by steel or some other durable metal. 

She watched as it made its way toward the SWAT van, spotting an officer that was still alive. He was critically injured, his chest filled with large bullet holes that gushed blood. She could hear the faint sounds of him panting as she crawled along the asphalt, leaving a leech trail of blood behind as he desperately tried to escape from the monster that was quickly closing the distance between them.

“What the fuck are you? Get the fuck away from me!” He screamed as he continued to crawl, failing to accept that fate that was rapidly approaching. The monster grunted as he wrapped a powerful, massive hand around his neck and lifted the officer into the air, his legs uselessly kicking at the air as the thing held him up high. The monster raised its other hand just as a tentacle erupted from its palm. The tentacle hardened into a razor-sharp blade, and Lydia gasped as it pierced the officer’s chest, tearing through the armor and skewering his heart as blood erupted from the officer’s helmet, his body spasming before going perfectly still.

“You bastard!” Lydia shouted as she came out from behind her parking spot and raised her M1911, emptying an entire clip into its face as it tossed the body to the ground and turned its attention to her. “You fucking monster!”

Before the monster could target her, Lydia felt something hot whiz past her right ear, a massive explosion knocking her off her feet as the monster suddenly erupted into flames. It released a frustrated roar as sparks began to bounce off of the vest of its combat outfit, hundreds of high powered rounds slamming into it from an unknown source. Lydia continued to lay on the ground, dazed and in shock as black spots danced before her eyes.

“We got a civilian over here!” A voice barked from somewhere nearby.

“Grab her and let's go!”

A pair of strong hands hoisted her to her feet, her right arm draped over an unfamiliar head as she was half-dragged half-walked someplace else. Lydia felt blood running down her face as her vision began to steadily fade to black. 

“Ma’am? Ma’am? Are you with me?”

“Wha—”

Her left eye was suddenly pried open and exposed to harsh, bright light. Her eye teared up a little as the light made contact, but seconds later her eye was closed.

“She doesn’t have any bites, and she’s not displaying any signs of infection. She’s clear. She does have a mild concussion though, and it seems as though she’s in shock. What the hell happened out there?”

Another muffled voice replied quickly. “She was being attacked by some kind of monster. One of my guys hit it with a grenade launcher and he didn’t realize how close the two of them were. The blast knocked her out pretty bad.”

“She’s got some minor burns and lacerations across her body, but nothing life-threatening. She’ll live, but she could use some rest.”

Lydia sat bolt upright, her hand reaching for an M1911 that was no longer in its holster, and immediately went for the Redhawk she carried into another holster.

“Where the fuck am I and who the fuck are you?” She pretty much screamed as her vision was still blurry, the figures around her backing off as she swept her gun across the room.

“Ma’am, you’re at the Raccoon City Police Station infirmary. You were rescued from an attack outside the walls by some officers who were already in the area. You were unconscious when they brought you here.”

Lydia wiped her eyes and they finally refocused.

She was in a large room filled with stretchers that had wounds civilians and officers alike laying upon them. The person she’d had her gun trained on with her hands raised was a young woman with short-cropped auburn hair and bright green eyes. She couldn’t have been more than nineteen-years-old. Beside her with a concerned yet tired look in his eyes was a much older dark-skinned man in a police uniform that was stained in blood and grime. He had visible sweat spots on his underarms and his hand rested on the Glock that was still within its holster.

“Holy shit, I’m sorry about that.”

She slipped the Redhawk into her holster as she brought a hand to her hand only to feel the softness of a thick bandage that had been placed there. The wound stung, and she could feel the stitches beneath the bandage, and she could still feel the crust of dried blood on her face.

“My name is Rebecca Chambers, former S.T.A.R.S medic. I believe you were looking for this?”

The young woman handed Lydia her .45 pistol, much to the older woman’s joy.

“The guys that brought you in said you’d dropped it when the grenade went off.”

Lydia swung her legs off the cot and stood on her own two feet, stretching as she ran her hands along her arms which had been recently treated with anti-septic meds.

“You should seriously rest. You’re concussed right now and I don’t think you should be on your feet.”

“This ain’t my first concussion, and it sure as hell won’t be my last. Also, the name is Lydia Richards. I’m a reporter. I’ve been looking for you for quite some time. If there’s any chance we can make sense of what the hell is going on in this city and put a stop to it, I need you to tell me everything you know about Umbrella, about S.T.A.R.S, and about what’s been going on behind closed doors here.”

Rebecca’s eyes widened, taken aback at the surge of information. Still, she sighed and looked Lydia directly in the eyes. 

“Come with me.”


	3. Gearing Up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Stay safe, stay healthy, and be smart. 
> 
> Here's another chapter.

The Raccoon City Police Station was bustling with activity, with numerous officers rushing to and from different places every five seconds. If they weren’t escorting civilians to other areas go the station they were either barricading windows, treating wounds, or were on there way out of the station to carry out missions of their own. At one point Lydia saw two officers carrying in another with a severe leg injury. His right pant-sleeve had been torn open to reveal a gaping wound in his leg. Something had taken a large bite out of his calf, the wound leaving behind a massive trail of blood as flesh and sinew swung around as his comrades escorted him to the infirmary. 

“We need a medic!”

“Shit!” Rebecca hissed as she rushed over to the injured officer. She threw an apologetic look Lydia’s way before she departed towards the infirmary with the other officers.

“I can give you a rundown on what’s been doing down. While we’ve all got it rough here, Rebecca’s trying her best. She’s the only medic we’ve got here, and since Raccoon City Hospital just went dark, she’s been busy as ever.” His name was Lieutenant Marvin Branagh. He’d been one of the officers who’d saved her earlier.

Lydia pulled a cigarette from one of her pockets and lit it, taking a drag before continuing to chat with him.

“Just as a heads up, I’m not your run-of-the-mill reporter. I’m an international investigator. I travel to different countries to tell the stories that no one else is talking about. I’ve been in war zones of all kinds, but what’s happening here is something I’ve never seen before in my life. While I can take care of myself, I do appreciate the save back there. I owe you and your men one. Anyway, I’ll admit that this caught me off guard. I fell asleep hours ago when the city was normal and woke up to a world gone to hell. What’s happening around here, really?”

Marvin shook his head as they walked through the station.

“It started with massive numbers of people suddenly getting sick. They all had the same symptoms, and it was killing people incredibly fast. We lost a large number of our own officers to it initially. Then the riots in the streets began, and things went to hell right after. Surprisingly, Umbrella’s armed forces set up an evacuation center in the southernmost part of Raccoon City. I tried reaching out to some of my guys that were stationed there to provide assistance, but we’ve lost contact. We’re overwhelmed, we’re exhausted, and things are still getting much worse. Still, we’ve learned a lot about the infected in the past several hours though. I don’t know why, but those things won’t go down by traditional methods. You’ve gotta shoot them in the head, break their neck, or take off their entire head. We’ve already wasted so much ammo on those things only for them to get back up. Plus, those bites are lethal. Still, when one of us gets bit we insist that we keep on fighting.”

Lydia’s mind wandered back to Rebecca.

“She’s still patching them up? Despite knowing the effects of the bites?”

“It’s all she can do to respect their wishes. If they wanna fight to end, they should be allowed to. As I said, we need as much help as we can get.”

“What about the police chief? What’s he doing about this situation?”

The scowl Marvin already wore grew deeper if possible. He couldn’t help but grimace at the mere mention of the man as Lydia watched him with curiosity.

“He was helping us for a while, but then he received urgent orders from the Mayor. After that, he completely sealed off his office from the rest of the station. None of us can get to him, and as far as I’m concerned, we’re on our own. Plus, I think he knows that he’s been losing our favor in the court of public opinion. Ever since he disbanded S.T.A.R.S, and suspended Jill Valentine, he’s been acting like a true suspect. Ever since that incident at the Arklay Mountains, he’s been trying to steer as much of the public eye away from Umbrella as possible.”

Lydia snapped her fingers.

“He’s on Umbrella’s paywall. If he truly trusted the word of his own officers he’d have taken action against them rather than shut them out completely. It’s fucking obvious that the guy you’ve all been calling your boss is just a traitor.”

Marvin shook his head.

“They told us, y’know. The surviving S.T.A.R.S members. They told us about the shit that went down there. A mansion deep in the mountains owned by the Umbrella Corporation. A place where they were allegedly creating biological weapons that create these cannibalistic monsters filling the streets. It was hard to believe at first, but why would they make this shit up? And how else can they explain the deaths of nearly all of the other members of their teams? We should have pay more attention. But Chief Irons had us all fooled. Now, we’re up to our necks in shit and there’s no sign of any relief coming.”

Lydia watched as a group of officers armed with submachine guns ran down the hall past them, each of them going over a plan of some sort to handle a huge crowd of infected on the eastern side of the station.

“Well listen, I’m here now, I know how to fight, and you guys need all the help you can get. I’m willing to help you guys out, and all I’m asking is for you to look the other way while I find a way to access the chief’s office. There’s bound to be something in there of interest in connection to Umbrella.”

Marvin extended a hand and promptly shook it. 

“You’ve got a deal. Given how long you lasted out there I can tell you’re not a pushover. If you follow me I’ll brief you on what we need.”

Lydia followed him through the station until they came to a briefing room. Taped onto a wall was a map of Raccoon City with several locations highlighted in black marker. 

“A SWAT team was sent in to handle a series of attacks that began taking place in this shopping mall over in this section here. We lost contact with them not long after the shit hit the fan. We’ve got pockets of our guys out there that are cut off from us, and not too long ago we received a message via radio that one of the surviving members of this team had a small group of survivors holed up somewhere within the mall. Right now, our main priority is reaching civilians while fortifying this station. We’ve got lots of people here already raising our defenses, but we don’t have enough manpower to send out more people to make these rescues.”

The investigator nodded, yet again taking in Marvin’s exhausted visage. She hadn’t noticed the dark circles beginning to form under his eyes now. When was the last time the man slept?

“I’m on it. I’ve got my own map of the city on me, so I should be able to navigate just fine on my own.”

Marvin heaved a sigh of relief.

“Perfect, let’s get you geared up. The armory is this way.”

Marvin guided her through a series of busy hallways that only raised more questions. Some officers ran to and from different parts of the station holding crates of ammunition, sometimes bodybags and shovels, while some were dragging their bleeding comrades through the halls, leaving trails of blood behind as they went. It was a miracle that the place was even functioning. 

He brought her into a room sealed behind a heavy security door, on the walls around her were weapons of seemingly every kind. While many of the hooks and shelves that held these weapons were a bit slim now, she was sure that there had been even more guns in here than before. 

“This was originally our confiscated weapons room. Given that America’s got more gun owners—both legally and illegally—than any other place in the world, we always run into folks that shouldn’t have weapons. Every weapon we’ve ever had to confiscate—plus ammunition—has been stored here. While a lot of em are in use right now, you can clearly see that there’s still a decent number left. Take your pick.”

Lydia’s eyes practically glazed over as stared at the racks of assault rifles, submachine guns, handguns, sniper rifles, shotguns, and even several crossbows. Then she found the one weapon that she immediately fell in love with. Grabbing it by the stock and turning it over in her hands, she couldn’t help but smile. She picked up a Remington 870 Express Tactical shotgun. Perfect for close encounters, and capable of blowing away anything in front of you. Reaching into a nearby shelf, she found a box of shells and even a few accessories nearby. Within minutes, Lydia fitted herself with a bandolier containing extra shells while also stocking up on additional ammunition for her pistols and new shotgun. 

Armed to the teeth and ready for whatever came her way, Marvin couldn’t help but whistle at the sight of the reporter.

“May God forgive whatever steps in front of you. I’ll bring you back to the front entrance to head out. It’s not the most ideal place to be given the sheer amount of infected around there, but our barricades have been holding so far, plus you seem fast on your feet.”

“I have to be. I ain’t trying to get eaten tonight.”

As the two of them made their way back to the police station’s entrance, they ran into Rebecca Chambers once again. Only this time, her uniform was stained in fresh blood and she wiped at her hands with a wet rag that was steadily turning red due to how much of the fluid had gotten onto her skin.

“Sending her off on a mission?” She asked as she looked Lydia up and down, immediately taking notice of her new equipment. 

“You guys scratched my back, so I’ll scratch yours. After all, the more time I spend here the closer I’ll get to the truth behind what’s caused this. And I am more than willing to take the risks involved.”

Lydia began making her way toward the set of double doors before turning around and calling out to the young medic.

“Don’t forget that you still owe me some information, Ms. Chambers. Until I get back, stay alive.” 

Then she went off into the night, heart beating madly in her chest as she found herself back into the brisk night air, the heavy scent of death and decay thick in the air as the sounds of gunfire came from seemingly every direction.


	4. Alone in the Dark

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lydia finds herself trapped after embarking on a rescue mission.

The shopping mall was located in a relatively quiet end of the city; aside from a parking lot full of abandoned cars and small numbers of infected shambling around here and there, there wasn’t a soul in sight. As the young woman walked toward the front entrance, she peered through the glass double doors and was met only by complete darkness.

With her flashlight in one hand and her .45 in the other, Lydia entered the silent building, quietly shutting the door behind her. As soon as she entered the main floor of the mall, she swept her flashlight across the hall in front of her, spotting several fast food joints and other stores that had their front display windows shattered, the floor covered in debris and shattered glass. She eventually arrived at an angelic fountain in the center of the mall, the water still flowing into the surrounding pool in a soothing trickle. Training her beam on the water, she immediately noticed that the water was red. In fact, Lydia’s boot came into contact with numerous small objects on the ground that clinked together as she accidentally kicked them. She fixed her beam to the floor, finding several dozen shell casings surrounding her. There were pools of blood on the floor with trails that led down several other pathways within the building. 

Turning her attention back to the red fountain in front of her, she saw a figure emerge from the pool of water. What stood before her had been a man with sandy blonde hair that was soaked and sticking to his forehead. Still clad in his ballistic police armor, Lydia could clearly see the gaping bite wound that had ended him, his entire front still soaked in blood. 

‘Looks like one of the SWAT guys.’

“I’m sorry this happened to you.” Was the only statement that left her before she fired a single round into his skull, sending him falling back into the water, his arms spread wide.

The gunshot echoed throughout the dead space, and before she knew it events began to unfold rather quickly. It started with the sound of padded feet slapping against the tile, the sound bringing to mind a memory from home. She remembered her dog running through her apartment whenever she’d get the canine all riled up. Only now, it was much different. The thing that came at her from the darkness was a dog, or rather, the former shell of one. It dragged its guts behind it as it stalked toward her, huge patches of black fur missing as rotting lips peeled away from slimy blood-covered incisors. It released a hellish bark before charging at her. Lydia managed to roll to the side, firing three rounds into the thing’s hide before it crashed to the floor, its corpse twitching before finally falling still.

More dogs emerged from the dark as Lydia took off running. She spotted a halted escalator ahead of her, boots clanging against the metal as she climbed as quickly as possible up to the second level of the mall. The dogs, however, were much faster, as Lydia turned around and shot another one out of the air that had leaped at her as soon as she turned to face it. 

“This way!”

The voice came from above. Standing in front of the escalator was a young woman clad in ballistic armor, the SWAT logo on her vest stained in blood. The female officer moved out of Lydia’s way and fired five rounds down toward the dogs that pursued her, striking one dog square in the head and sending it crashing into another dog. 

“We’re holed up in the mall’s security office! Follow me!” She shouted as Lydia finally made it to the mall’s upper level. As the two of them ran through the darkness only illuminated by the beams of their flashlights, the two women could hear the rapid tapping of paws against the tile, the unearthly snarls of the dogs getting closer and closer as Lydia went bounding for the security room guided by the officer in front of her.

They came to a heavily bolted door with a large handle, its surface spattered in bloody handprints and numerous holes that appear to have been made by bullets…

The female SWAT officer hammered a gloved fist against the door as Lydia took up a firm firing stand, squeezing the trigger on her .45 and taking out as many of the undead canines as possible. 

The door opened with a groan, the two of them rushing inside the security room just as the door was slammed shut behind them. Seconds later, Lydia flinched at the sound of the dogs slamming their bodies against the door, the crunch of shattering bones making Lydia green in the face.

“Hill, that was too damn risky.” Came a nearby male voice. Lydia pointed her beam toward the door to see another taller figure, a man clad in SWAT gear. Like his comrade, his uniform was stained in gore, only his left hand was wrapped in a thick gauze bandage stained a deep shade of crimson. His skin was deathly pale and covered in a thick layer of sweat. He slid to the ground with a grunt, flexing the fingers on his injured hand.

“I heard a gunshot, and I figured it was backup. I couldn’t risk us getting stranded here.”

The wounded officer attempted to rise to his feet, the female officer rushing to his aid as he struggled to move away from the door. 

Lydia slid a fresh magazine into her 1911, stowing the empty clip into one of her pockets.

“Thanks for the assist, but as far as your backup goes, it’s just me.” She said as she placed the weapon back into its holster.

“You’re, not a member of the RPD, are you?” Scott said as he looked Lydia up and down.

She shook her head. “Nope, I’m just a reporter and a damn good one at that. I’m here at the request of a Lieutenant Marvin Branagh.”

The female officer’s—the one Scott called Hill— eyes lit up at the mention of the lieutenant.

“Marvin’s alive? Then that means the RPD is still operational!”

“For the time being; they’re struggling to keep infected out of the station and there are too many casualties the count. Chief Irons has abandoned his duties and left the RPD to fend for itself.”

Scott scoffed.

“Figures. Fat bastard was always an odd one to me.” He muttered as he rose to his feet on shaking knees. He nearly toppled over, his saving grace being Hill catching his arm at the last moment.

“Take it easy,” She scolded as she propped him against a wall.

“You were bitten by one of those things, weren’t you?” Lydia’s voice remained stoic as she question hung in the air. Hill nodded as her superior coughed into his injured hand.  
“The power had gone out and threw our entire team in the dark. The infected had already breached the building and none of us expected those dogs to be among them. All in all, this is a complete shit show.”

It was then that Lydia took notice of a teenaged girl sitting in the corner of the room, her knees up to her chest as she watched Lydia out of the corner of her eye. She had short black hair and a boyish face dotted with freckles. She wore old faded jeans and a dark green army jacket flecked with small droplets of blood. At her feet was an aluminum baseball bat spattered in blood with more than a few dents in it. 

“Her name is Yoko.” Hill began, scratching at the back of her head.

“She’s the only one we were able to save. There were more survivors here, but they panicked and decided to make a run for it. She’s the only one who had enough sense to stay. Still, she’s in shock. She’s never had to kill anything before today, you know?”

Hill noticed Lydia’s gaze on the girl’s blood-flecked clothes before meeting her gaze and shaking her head.

“Not bitten.”

Scott drew his pistol and unloaded the magazine, checking his ammunition before sliding it back into place. His face was covered in a thick sheet of sweat and his skin was steadily losing its color. 

“Since though I’m infected with whatever those monsters outside have inside of them, the two of you should leave me behind. I can make for a distraction while you two take our sole survivor here back to the police station.”

Hill clenched her fists.

“Sir, you can’t expect me to just leave you! We just need to get you—”

“A hospital isn’t going to fix this, but I think you knew this already. So here are your options: wait for me to turn into one of those monsters, or you three get the hell outta here and get back to the station.”  
Blood continued to drip from his wounded hand.

“What’s it gonna be?”


End file.
